Emergency ship propulsion equipment



l April 24, 1962 L. E. ALSAGER 3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT Filed June 29, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheel 1INVENTOR. LESLIE E. ALSAGER BY AT TO RN EY April 24, 1962 L. E. ALSAGER3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT 3,1, 35 '3 ATTORNEY April 24, 1962L. E. ALSAGER 3,030,910

EMERGENCY SHIP PROPULSION EQUIPMENT Filed June 29, 1960 Fig. 4

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 y mms/1m LESLIE E. ALSAGER I n (fm ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent O EMERGENCY SHIP PRIULSION EQUIFMENT Leslie E. Alsager,Falls Church, Va., assigner to the United States of America asrepresented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed June 29, 1960, Ser. No.39,743 1 Claim. (Cl. 11S- 41) (Granted under Title 35, U.S. Code (1952),see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used byor for the Government of the United States of America for governmentalpurposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention is directed to a novel arrangement for ship propulsionand in particular is concerned with auxiliary propulsion equipment foruse under emergency conditions.

In carrying out the invention I propose the arranging of one or moreemergency propellers or propulsion devices in such a manner thatpropulsion of the vessel by the normally used propulsion equipment isuninterrupted or unaffected by the emergency equipment, the auxiliaryequipment being readily moved to operating position when an emergencyexists as When the normally used propullsion equipment is impaired or itis impractical to use.

Within the purview of the above outlined proposal, the broad object ofthe invention is to enclose :a propeller or propulsion device ininoperative position within the hull of `a vessel in such a manner as toeliminate or reduce drag to a minimum and to provide for readyadjustment of the propeller to an operative position exteriorly of thevessel structure.

Another object is to provide an assembly of propeller and operatingmeans therefor which are movable as a unit between inoperative andoperative positions.

Another object is to support a unitary propeller and motor assemblywithin the hull of a vessel on guides for ready adjustment of theassembly between inoperative and operative positions.

Another object is to provide an emergency submarine propeller which issealed within the submarine pressure chamber in inoperative position butis readily movable to operative position.

Other incidental features `and objects of the invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description of the invention.

In its broad aspect, the invention contemplates the positioning of apropeller within the hull of a vessel and adjacent =an opening providedtherein which has a removable closure therefor. A motor for driving thepropeller is positioned in alignment with the propeller and is connectedthereto by ya shaft while means are provided for moving the motor andpropeller as a unit from their inoperative position Within the hull todispose the propeller exteriorly of the hull through the closed opening.An additional feature is the provision of an auxiliary motor with theassembled unit which operates to adjust the position of the propellerwith respect to the hull after the auxiliary or emergency propeller hasbeen moved to its operative position for directional steering of thevessel.

FIG. l is `a view in elevation of a submarine with the propeller andmotor assembly of the invention disposed in its inoperative positionwithin the ballast chamber.

FiG. 2 is a fragmentary pl-an view of the propeller and motor assemblyof FIG. l enlarged to show details of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in sectional elevation of the propeller andmotor assembly of FIG. l in inoperative position.

FIG. 4 is a view generally similar to FIG. 3 but taken at a right anglethereto and showing the propeller and motor assembly in operativeposition.

ICC

In FIG. 1, 1t) shows diagrammatically a submarine having at 11 the usualpropeller means for normal propulsion of the vessel. As is usual insubmarines, an annular space S for water ballast is formed between thesubmarine pressure hull which is shown at 12 and the outer hull 13, thepurpose of the space is to provide water storage to control thesubmergence of the submarine. The assembly of auxiliary propeller andother equipment of the invention is shown generally at 14 in FIG. l andby preference the auxiliary propeller is located within the space S aswill be explained later.

The plan view of FIG. 2 is for the purpose of showing the generalpositional relationship of the emergency propeller and the severalmotors of the assembly. The emergency propeller housing is indicated at20 having propeller vanes 21 disposed within a Kort nozzle 22 which issecured to the propeller housing 2@ lby means of struts 23. A motorwithin a housing 24 is provided for driving the propeller vanes 21 while25 indicates an annulus or ring having an opening for receiving andsupporting the housing 24E- and other structure carried thereby. Thering support 2.5 receives vertical rods or guide rails 26 in slots 26 ina manner to permit adjustment of the support and at 27 is indicated ameans for controlling the `adjustment of the support to move thepropeller lhousing and the equipment of the assembly between itsinoperative and operative positions. A directional motor indicated at 2Sis carried by the motor housing 24 and has a worm gear 29 for physicallymoving the motor housing 24 through an arc by means of a ring gear 30 tovary the angular position of the propeller housing relative to the shipshull. The ring gear G0 is shown positioned within the motor housing butmay be on its exterior.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4t, the emergency or auxiliary propellerhousing 20' is shown disposed within the ballast space S located betweenthe pressure hull 12 and outer hull 13 of the submarine structure. Acompartment C is formed within space S by means of a pair of opposedwalls 31--3\1, shown in FIG. 3, and a second pair of opposed walls32;-32, shown in FIG. 4. The outer hull 13 of the submarine is providedwith an opening 33 which is closed by a removable cover 34 and anannular seal ring 3S is provided to malte the closure watertight. TheKort nozzle 22 and the propeller housing 20 are respectively secured tothe removable closure 34 by means of braces 36 and 37. A tubular shaft4u interconnects the motor housing 24 and the propeller housing 20 in amanner to permit movement of the propeller housing when the motorhousing is adjusted. To this end, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper end ofthe shaft tl is xedly mounted to the lower end of the housing of themotor while the lower end of the shaft is provided with a stuffing box41 for a sealing gland 4t2. The sealing gland 42 is received in anaperture 43 formed in the pressure hull 12 and provides with the sealedclosure 34 a watertight chamber C within which the propeller mechanismis disposed.

The support ring 2S is grooved about its periphery as shown in FIG. 2 toprovide pairs of guide lingers 44--44 for receiving the guide rails 26and the ring 25, motor 24 and other associated structure is arranged tobe adjusted or moved as a unit along with the propeller hous- Ztl andits associated structure to move the propeller to the operative positionof FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4 the auxiliary propeller and other assembled elements are shownin the operative position, that is the closure 34 is moved from theopening 33 while the motor housing Ztl and other elements securing thehousing to the closure 34 are moved from the compartment C to a positionfor propelling the vessel liti. The means 27 indicated in FIG. 2 mayconveniently take the form of a piston and cylinder arrangement as shownin FIG.

3 wherein pistons 27 are secured to the ring 2S and mounted withincylinders 27 to which pressure is applied through nozzle 5l by, forexample, a hand pump to move the ring support 25 and its associatedstructure along the rails 26.

After the auxiliary propeller housing 20 has been moved to the positionshown in FIG. 4 and in order to change or vary the direction of thepropeller' housing 2t) for steering purposes, the ring gear or gear rack3i? may be arranged within the lower portion of the motor housing 24 asshown in FG. 4 for meshing with the worm gear 29 of the directionalmotor 28. The arrangement for operating the propellers or vanes Z1comprises an inner shaft 60, shown in FIG. 4, which is concentricallymounted within the tubular outer shaft (itl and has its upper enddisposed within the motor housing 24 and connected to the motor shaftand operated thereby. At its lower end the shaft oil is connected to abevel gear 61 which is disposed within the propeller housing 2@ to coactwith a second bevel gear 62` mounted on a propeller shaft 63. Thepropeller shaft 63, as is well understood in the art, will be suitablymounted in bearings within the housing 2i) for proper operation of thepropellers or vanes 21. When the auxiliary propeller assembly is movedto the position shown in FG. 4, power is supplied to the motor 24 foreifecting its operation and through the shaft 60 and gear connections611 and 62 the propellers or vanes 2,1 will be operated. Although thepropeller housing 20 and its associated structure are maintained in awatertight compartment C, it will be understood that the bevel gears 61and 612, and other structure within the propeller housing 20 will beformed or constructed of material which will permit lubrication andcooling by the flowing sea water to permit eicient and proper use of theinvention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or from the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

An auxiliary propeller assembly for a ship which comprises a watertightcompartment within the ship constructed of side and opposed upper andlower end walls, a propeller housing secured to the inner face of thelower end wall having a propeller shaft disposed generally horizontallyof the compartment and mounting a propeller, an aperture in the upperend wall, an inner vertical shaft extending through said aperture andhaving its lower end geared to said propeller shaft, an outer verticaltubular shaft concentric with the inner shaft extending through saidaperture in sealed relation therewith and having its lower end fixed tosaid propeller housing, a plurality of vertical guide rails extendingupwardly from the compartment upper wall, a horizontal annular supporthaving spaced connecting lugs on its outer periphery, said connectinglugs receiving the guide rails and permitting vertical adjustment of thesupport, a casing seated on the annular support in freely movingrelation therewith and enclosing a iirst motor, said casing beingconnected with said outer tubular shaft and said first motor beingoperatively connected with the inner vertical shaft, a second motorsupported by said casing, operating connections between the second motorand said casing for rotating the outer tubular shaft, said lower endwall of the compartment being formed of a section of the ships hullwhich is movable outwardly of the hull and means for applying pressuredownwardly of said annular support to lower the equipment carriedthereby and position the propeller structure beneath the hull.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,551,371 Grigg May 1, 1951 2,638,863 Kiebler May 19, 1953 2,885,990Hawthorne May l2, 1959

